ns in Dallas contributed.

ns in Dallas contributed.

The NFL for the first time is prohibiting certain helmets from being worn by players.

In notifying the 32 teams Monday Youth Josh Rosen Jersey , the league has sought to have players stop using 10 helmet varieties. Some, particularly those manufactured by Rawlings, no longer are being made and don't have support from the company. Others were found to be inferior to many of the 34 helmets the NFL and the players' union examined.

Previously, NFL players could choose any helmet as long as it passed certification standards. Six of the substandard helmets are prohibited immediately, while the other four may be worn by players who used them in 2017 but not by new players.

"Over the last few years we've seen some dynamic changes in the helmet industry, both from new innovators as well as new helmets and models from incumbent companies," said Jeff Miller, the NFL's senior vice president of health and safety policy.

"There are a number of helmets for players to move to, from those that rank poorly in performing to the ones in the higher ranking.

"The purpose of the continuation to rank helmets and the joint decision with the players' association to prohibit is to increase that movement into better performing helmets. We are encouraged this is an important step for better player safety."

A survey of players revealed at least 98 percent used one or more of the 34 helmet models tested. Data also showed that concussions were up in the NFL in 2017 to 291.

Laboratory testing showed that the VICIS Zero 1 models of 2017 and 2018 rate best for player safety. A chart specifying top-to-bottom rankings for the 34 helmets is posted at every team's training facility.

"We've begun to see that over the last couple of years players moving from helmets that rank in the poorly performing areas to those that are ranging closer to the top-performing helmets," Miller said.

The 2018 Zero1 was the only new helmet model tested this year.

"We're demonstrating our commitment by setting the pace for innovation and safety John Kelly Color Rush Jersey ," said Dave Marver, CEO of VICIS, which has been making helmets for only four years. Marver estimated 70 players were using the Zero1 by the end of the 2017 season, and he expects "200 or more" to be in them before the upcoming season kicks off.

"We already have players on 400 high schools across the country who have ordered the helmet, and we expect 50-plus colleges to have them," Marver added. "Last year we had about 20."

Marver believes a reduced helmet price from $1,500 a year ago to $950 by the end of last season 鈥?a drop enabled by higher volumes and lower manufacturing costs 鈥?and a reduction in weight by a half-pound added to the Zero1's popularity.

As for its high ranking, "players feel better when they are hit, they don't feel an impact as much. They say they don't get headaches, don't have those 'seeing stars moments.' Like how the helmet fits so when they move their heads it tracks really well. And there's the wider field of view our helmet provides."

He approves of the NFL banning certain helmets.

"I was encouraged by it because the league and union have been telling manufacturers to be more assertive about encouraging players to wear the better testing helmets. We like any movement toward rigorous testing because it makes us stand out, and we found them genuinely interested in player safety."

Miller and Dr. Jeffrey Crandall, chairman of the NFL's engineering committee Braden Smith Colts Jersey , mentioned potential development of helmets designed for specific positions. They cautioned such an advance is years away.

"What we have done is we now have three years of video review and looked at over 350 concussions," Crandall said. "We are starting to see trends in data. It's going to be a few more years" to gather enough information to pursue position-specific helmets.

Crandall noted that sensors will be used to evaluate helmets in college football this year. He's hopeful they will be used next year in the NFL.

"That gives us all types of information on each position," Crandall explained, "and then we can put together a test and share that data with manufacturers."

Jim Nill could have picked anyone from an extensive list of experienced out-of-work NHL coaches to fill the Dallas Stars‘ vacancy.

Darryl Sutter has won the Stanley Cup twice, Dan Bylsma once, Alain Vigneault has made the Final twice and Dave Tippett is widely considered one of the best in hockey. Any of them could’ve been a nice fit, but the Stars general manger wanted to be comprehensive in his search.

”The game is changing, life changes, and we wanted to make sure that we didn’t forget somebody,” Nill said. ”Let’s not leave anything, any leaf unturned, every door open Adidas Auston Matthews Jersey , let’s look at every candidate.”

Dallas decided last week on University of Denver coach Jim Montgomery to replace franchise legend Ken Hitchcock, who returned for one season almost two decades after leading the Stars to the Cup. Nill’s front office is far from the only one looking outside the box to college, junior and Europe for coaching candidates, a trend that could lead to far more teams going beyond retreads with the hope of finding the next great mind behind the bench.

”It’s more kind of an evolution of the game itself,” said Philadelphia coach Dave Hakstol, who was hired out of the University of North Dakota in the summer of 2015 and has gotten the Flyers to the playoffs twice in three seasons. ”There are so many good people coaching at different levels. For a lot of years it seems that maybe the college-coaching level was maybe bypassed for some of the opportunities. But I think when you look at the quality of coaching in the college game today … there’s some real talented people.”

Before Hakstol and Montgomery, it had been since Herb Brooks in 1987 and Bob Johnson in 1982 that a coach went from the NCAA ranks directly to the NHL. Outside of now-San Jose’s Peter DeBoer and ex-Pittsburgh coach Mike Johnston, junior hockey hasn’t funneled many straight to the NHL, and there have only been two European-born head coaches: Ivan Hlinka and Alpo Suhonen in the early 2000s.

It’s far more common for teams to mine the American Hockey League and NHL staffs for head jobs, and that’s usually a necessary step. Tampa Bay’s Jon Cooper came from the United States Hockey League but spent time in the AHL before the Lightning elevated him, and longtime Quebec Major Junior Hockey League coach Benoit Groulx is on the same path now with the NHL in his near future.

Buffalo’s Phil Housley got some experience as the U.S. world junior coach but went right from high school hockey to being an assistant in Nashville. And Rod Brind’Amour spent seven seasons as an assistant after his playing days were over before being named Carolina’s coach on Tuesday.

Hurricanes GM Don Waddell said Brind’Amour’s ”fresh ideas, ability to motivate and understanding of what it takes to bring a championship” to Carolina set him apart. As the New York Rangers look to fill their job after firing Vigneault and other openings come up in the next few offseasons Customized Houston Texans Jerseys , there will be plenty of fresh coaches to choose from.

Boston University’s David Quinn has been linked to the Rangers but will stay at least one more year and run the U.S. world junior team before likely being the next to graduate from college to the NHL. Sweden national coach Rikard Gronborg might also be in the mix sooner than later.

”I’ve kind of done all that stuff and coached some of the best players in the world,” Gronborg told Sportsnet recently. ”Now I’m interested to have my ideas, to (implement) them over a period of time and do them overseas, and kind of challenging the coaching community over in the NHL. I bring a different perspective on things.”

Germany national coach Marco Sturm also brings a different perspective after playing 14 NHL seasons and leading an unheralded team to capture the silver medal at the most recent Olympics. Sturm would like to coach in the NHL but said: ”I’m only 39 years old, I’ve still got time and I’m still learning and I want to learn and we’ll see what the future presents.”

With an eye on the future, Nill looked at the present success of young coaches like Cooper and New Jersey’s John Hynes and widened his net. It ended with Montgomery and perhaps a new thought process from Nill on how to go through coaching searches.

”Once we went through this process, I just think … who was Scott Bowman? Someone gave him a chance,” Nill said. ”Who was Mike Babcock? Somebody gave him a chance. This is a guy that he deserves a chance.”